The Breed
Character
The Asian cat breed has an inquisitive outgoing nature.
They are intelligent and fun loving making them the ideal family pet.
At the same time their gentleness appeals to elderly people looking for a loyal and devoted companion.
Asian cats are one of the few breeds which actually state in the breed standard they must be of good temperament.
Whilst being ultra affectionate, they are also born entertainers which makes them charming personalities.
Types of Asian Cats
Over forty years on from the “blissful mistake” of the first mating between a Burmese and a Chinchilla Persian. careful breeding has produced the following groups within the Asian Breed.
The combinations of colour and pattern are immense.
The debate still rages as to how many possibilities there are, but around 624 seems to be the current view.
Each colour is known as either Full Expression or Burmese Colour Restriction.
This means that the cat is either a Burmese colour or the unmodified Full Expression colour which is much much darker e.g. Burmese brown becomes black.
It would take a very brave breeder to attempt to breed an example of each!!
Burmilla
This was the name given to the original pattern which occurred from the first mating between a Burmese and a Chinchilla Persian.
The Burmilla cats undercoat is scintillating silver or subtle standard (non-silver).
The tip of the coat is shaded with colours ranging from black to the palest lilac.
It is a fault if a coat is so lightly tipped as to appear white – silver or cream – standard.
When Burmillas were mated together the genetic possibilities started to emerge – semi-long haired varieties and tabby patterns became evident, along with smokes and self’s.
A great deal of work is still needed to perfect the wonderful possibilities.
Self
The Selfs are solid colour coats, plain coloured all the way down the hair shaft.
Perhaps the best known is the Bombay with its black patent leather look coat and startling eyes.
Other colours being developed are Blue, Chocolate, Lilac, Red, Torties, Cream, Caramel and Apricot.
Self colours are always much darker than their Burmese counterparts.
Smoke
The smoke has a deep based silver undercoat and beautiful contrasting top coat.
To the layman when viewed from behind a smoke could be mistaken for a self, it is a fault if too much silver breaks up the solid mantel of colour.
There can, however, be no mistaking a smoke from the front where the wonderful contrast between the top coat and silver undercoat.
Tabby
There are four different tabby patterns; Ticked, Spotted, Mackerel and Classic.
All are possible in silver or standard.
Most of the tabbies seen on the show bench are the dominant ticked pattern.
However, several breeders are working hard to perfect the patterns on the more recessive varieties, the spotted, mackerel, and the most recessive, the classic.
There is still a great deal of work to be undertaken before they become readily available.
Tiffanie
This is the semi-long haired Asian.
It can appear in any of the coat patterns and colours.
It is by nature the quietest of the Asian breed.
The long haired gene is recessive to the short haired gene and therefore a lot of hard work from dedicated breeders has been needed to establish the gene pool which exists today.
Variants
These are Asians whose phenotype (outward appearance) is identical to Burmese. They may be used in the Asian breeding programme where they make a valuable contribution but they cannot be shown.